IDW - Lost Light #20

Title: Crucible Part 2: Lustrare 

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Casey W. Coller

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: David Mariotte

Publisher: Greg Goldstein

Plot

On Mederi, the team left on the surface continue to barricade themselves into Ward Zero, where First Aid manages to hack into Mederi's files discovers a possible cure for the Sparkeater disease, but it is a concussive medicine, meaning it has to be "punched" into the victims. They prepare to use a generator to administer the cure, but Misfire worries that the organic aliens in the ward could be harmed by the generator. First Aid agrees that this is a risk and tries to find another cure, only for Nickle to turn it on anyway. Outside the Sparkeaters are knocked out, and Velocity commends Nickel, since the organics would have been killed regardless if the monsters got inside, but luckily the generator didn't hurt them anyway. Nickel plays it off that she knew that...and not that she just didn't care about the aliens...

On the Lost Light, Cyclonus has flown off through the corridors with Star Saber chasing him, the two having unfinished business since their last encounter on Luna-1. Rodimus is left with Getaway and Scorponok, the former of which just watches as Scorponok pummels the Autobot. Rodimus taunts Getaway about how he'll never be a Prime, not just because of him not being worthy, but because "Getaway Prime" sounds stupid, to which Getaway just orders Scorponok to kill him.

In the now flooded Shuttle Bay Four, Grimlock manages to slice the Scraplet combiner in half, but it quickly reforms. It starts to grab for the team, until it notices Whirl and speeds off towards him. Whirl screams out a "No!" before being shocked at the Scraplets reforming into a hand and caress his face gently....

Back in the corridors, Star Saber is getting bored with just flying in circles, that is until Cyclonus transforms and draws his sword, bisecting the still speeding Star Saber from end to end, seemingly killing the murderous zealot. He offers him a brief prayer to hope Primus forgives his sins, as he also hopes the same for himself one day.

On the Bridge, Scorponok is about to squish Rodimus' head, but is teleported away by Tyrest, since the Grand Architect needs his "lieutenants" with him for the next stage of their plans. Getaway is left alone with Rodimus, and decides to run for his life rather than fight him there.

On Mederi, some of the Sparkeaters are brought into Ward Zero to complete their treatment, when suddenly the aliens begin a count-down, leaving everyone to worry about what they are counting towards...

Back on the Lost Light, Rodimus follows Getaway to the furnaces, where he contacts Cyclonus to let him know where he is, and he is ambushed by Getaway. The two fight, with Getaway threatening to use some Nucleon rods to destroy the ship. The two talk, and Getaway explains that when they arrived on "Cyberutopia" they found nothing, since the crew didn't have a consensus of what Cyberutopia would be like, and were soon attacked by the Grand Architect's Worldsweepers. Getaway managed to save his own life by claiming that Rodimus and Megatron, along with their allies would be coming to stop the Architect's plans, and offered to help them fight them off. As payment and a show of loyalty, he had his crew handed over to Scorponok to be turned into Sparkeaters.

Getaway admits that everything he ever wanted was pointless now, Cyberutopia was just a fantasy, and he'll never be a Prime. The only thing he has left is to kill Rodimus. Rodimus declares that Getaway is obsessed with him, but Getaway claims the opposite to be true, since he chased him across the universe, and rather than help out his crew on the surface of Mederi, he opted to come to the ship to kill him. This makes Rodimus pause for a moment to consider it, giving Getaway a chance to detonate the Nucleon rods...

LUCKILY, Cyclonus arrives and slices off Getaway's arm, leading him to run off in fear into the open furnace, planning to die by his own hands. Rodimus, having reconsidered things, runs in after his long-time enemy and recovers him, carrying him out as his paint job reverts back to its original state.

Rodimus puts Getaway on the ground as he and Cyclonus look for the sprinkler system controls to put out the furnace flames before they spread too far, however Getaway wakes up and grabs Cyclonus' discarded great sword. He goes to skewer the ancient Cybertronian, when he is stopped by an image of Primus himself in the now-activated Sprinklers. Primus holds out his hand to Getaway, which he takes to mean he has been chosen as the new Prime, he hold's his god's hand and is finally happy.

Then Primus breaks apart into the Scraplet army and tear Getaway apart, killing him in a violent fashion, leaving just a few scraps behind.

Behind the Scraplets, Whirl explains that the Scraplets that he looked after as a baby that snuck on the Lost Light from Luna-1 a few Christmas' ago were a part of the swarm and they have taken control of them. They hacking into the Mederi computers and gave Getaway his happiest wish, validation from god, before killing him.

All seems well, until Rodimus receives a call from Ratchet on Mederi, he explains about the organics having completed their countdown and tells his captain to look out the window, as there's a massive tear in space above Mederi.....

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Drift - Car

Getaway - Car Eaten by Scraplets

Ratchet - Ambulance

First Aid - Ambulance

Velocity - Race Car

Brainstorm - Jet

Chromedome - Car

Rewind - Data Slug

Rung - Photonic Crystal Generator

Swerve - Van

Tailgate - Car

Nautica - Submarine 

Riptide - Boat

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Thunderclash - Truck

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Sparkeater Inferno - Fire Truck Knocked out by Concussive Medicine Wave

Sparkeater Waverider - Submarine Knocked out by Concussive Medicine Wave

Sparkeater Siren - Car Knocked out by Concussive Medicine Wave

Sparkeater Slamdance - Cassettes Knocked out by Concussive Medicine Wave

Sparkeater Gears - Van Knocked out by Concussive Medicine Wave

Sparkeater Powerflash - Jet Knocked out by Concussive Medicine Wave

Other Lost Lighter Sparkeaters Knocked out by Concussive Medicine Wave

Sparkeater Bluestreak - Car (Flashback Only)

Sparkeater Hound - Jeep (Flashback Only)

Sparkeater Hoist - Crane (Flashback Only)

Skids - Van (Mentioned) Dead

Decepticon

Nickel - Rocket Powered Buggy

Misfire - Jet

Spinister - Helicopter

Fulcrum - K-Class Bomb

Crankcase - Van

Krok

Other Cybertronian

Scorponok - Scorpion

Star Saber - Jet Bisected by Cyclonus

Cyclonus - Jet

Roller - Truck

Wipe-Out - Car

Anode - Bi-Plane

Lug - Backpack Equipment

Primus (Scraplet Construct Only)

Tyrest (Voice Only)

Other

Scraplets

Alien Telepaths Comatose on Mederi

The Grand Architect (Mentioned)

The Beast (Mentioned)

Notes

• You may think it's harsh of Nickel to use the concussive wave generator around the organics, before they tested if it was safe for them, but do remember that her homeworld of Prion was destroyed by organics...so I guess it's okay for her to be a little kill-happy with them!
• Despite being the focus of the cover I got (Hey I love Star Saber!) His fight with Cyclonus lasts all of five panels....yay....we don't even get to see him transform into robot mode...
• Also....DAMMIT CYCLONUS! DON'T KILL MY STAR SABER SENPEI!! 
• Rodimus gets annoyed with Scorponok for referring to him as "Hot Rod", similarly to how he got annoyed with Fortress Maximus for the same reason. This is what you get for renaming yourself!
• Oh...what a shock...the scraplets are being controlled by the ones Whirl befriended in the Holiday Special...I totally didn't call that in the previous Lost Light review....
• According to Rodimus, Drift believes in what are essentially guardian angels named Slivers...hope they're not related to the poo aliens from the movies of the same names...
• Rung has "heard" the pronounced coat of arms for the Knights of Cybertron/the Grand Architect's faction before in the past...I wonder if this has some connection to his still unexplained alternate mode?
• Having finally taken back his ship, and gotten "revenge" on Getaway by not killing him like he wanted, but intending for him to be taken into custody for his crimes, Rodimus' colour scheme, which Drift gave him to signify that he wanted to kill someone, burns away in the flames, and returns to his classic look.
• Tyrest states that "The Beast" approaches. Considering this issue was originally meant to be released before Unicron #1 coming out, we can assume that this is referring to the planet eater.
• The crack in space near Mederi looks similar to the tear in time/space from the Marvel UK Time Wars event.
• My updated idea for the plot now, is that The Grand Architect's plan is to use the threadbare space created over the past few issues to try and trap Unicron within it, to try and save the Universe (obviously it'll fail, but whatever)

IDW - Lost Light #12

Title: The Plotter's Club Part 3: Journey's End

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Jack Lawrence & Andrew Griffith

Colours by: Joana LaFuente, John-Paul Bove & Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Assistant Editor: David Mariotte

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Getaway counts to 30 and declares Riptide dead, having had him in the oil reservoir for long enough for the Scraplets to have eaten him now. Atomizer expresses his distaste for what just happened again, but Getaway ignores him, concentrating more on how the security team seem unwilling to fire n Autobots, so he plans to have Sunder work on them, or even bring in someone without a connection to the crew...

The Lost light exits the Warren for a recharge, and Perceptor is shocked that the ship appears to have time travelled a short time whilst in the Warren. The crew is about to re-enter the Warren to reach Cyberutopia when Getaway informs Blaster that they have a rendezvous to make...

In the Oil Reservoir, now alone, Riptide manages to escape the oil, having retained his transformation skill despite Getaway using the Nudge Gun to remove that skill.

Getaway, Froid and Atomizer meet in Swerve's bar, where they experience one of the time windows showing Rodimus and the other guys that were betrayed by Getaway hanging out before their exiling. Froid asks Getaway if he thinks they survived the attack from the DJD, which Getaway seems confident that they did, then begins to wax on about how he'll be named a Prime after finding Cyberutopia. Froid partially diagnoses Getaway as having Primus Apeothesis, and that he is trying to become like Optimus. He then goes on to say that hopes Rung survived the attack, since he was one of the "good guys" in life.

Later, Getaway takes Atomizer to the Medibay where he orders him to kill either Hot Spot, First Aid or Rook, stating that doing so will stop the potential threat of Defensor combining. Atomizer takes some time to decide, but ultimately kills Rook, likely due to him not knowing him. He immediately regrets the choice, as he figures he could have just shot him into space instead of killing him. Getaway now states that Atomizer has blood on his hands now, just like him, meaning he's no better than him now...unaware that Riptide is watching from a panel in the ceiling....

Meanwhile, the Scavengers are raiding an old Decepticon base on the planet Frayus, when they leave and discover the Black Block Consortia fighting with both the Galactic Council and the Decepticon Justice Division, now under the command of Nickel, and made mostly of Deathsaurus' troops. The Scavengers try to teleport away to their ship, but the signal is unable to lock on, as they ship might be damaged. However they are saved when someone rescues them through a spacebridge portal, which they run through, soon followed accidentally by Nickel being blown into the portal by an explosion.

Back on the Lost Light, Riptide frees the comatose Autobots, they mourn Rook's death, and First Aid determines that Riptide must be immune to the Nudge Gun due to his lower intelligence. They head off towards the shuttle bay to escape the ship, after taking Ambulon's body from the morgue. Mirage scouts ahead and tells the others that the shuttle bay is filled with security, so they decide to combine, using Ambulon as a replacement for Rook.

Inside the shuttle bay, Getaway and the others are welcoming a new shuttle, containing their new security chief, when Defensor smashes through the wall and attacks the security team. Thunderclash strikes Getaway, but before he can do much more, he is shot in the side of his head by Star Saber, the new security chief, and is knocked out.

Getaway orders his new recruit to take Defensor apart, since he is an "unbeliever" Mirage tries to reason with Star Saber, but the fanatic simply slices him to pieces, much to Atomizer's horror. Star Saber soon attacks Defensor and slices him into his component parts, and the security team kill Streetwise, Blades, Groove and Hot Spot as they fall. He goes towards First Aid and Riptide, who are dragging Thunderclash to safety, when Atomizer jumps him and shoots him in the neck, giving the others the time to steal Star Saber's shuttle and escape.

Later, Getaway calls Froid to have Sunder alter the memories of the security team to make them think that Thunderclash killed Atomizer, in order to cover for him just killing him himself, but the doctor is demanding more and more spinal cords as payment. Before they can agree on the price however, Blaster contacts Getaway with some good news...they have arrived at Cyberutopia...a beautiful rainbow hued version of Cybertron!

Characters

Autobot

Getaway - Car

Atomizer - Car Killed by Getaway

Sunder - Car

Thunderclash - Truck Injured by Star Saber

Riptide - Boat

Mirage - Race Car Killed by Star Saber

First Aid - Ambulance

Rook - Armoured Personnel Carrier Killed by Atomizer

Hot Spot - Fire Truck Killed by Security Team

Groove - Police Motorcycle Killed by Security Team

Blades - Rescue Helicopter Killed by Security Team

Streetwise - Police Car Killed by Security Team

Ambulon - Leg Dead

Defensor - Protectobot Combiner Most of Team Dead, so Defunct

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Mainframe

Perceptor - Tank

Blaster - Acoustic Tank

Jackpot - Car

Smokescreen - Car

Inferno - Fire Truck

Pointblank - Car

Aquabat - Winged Monster/Boat

Grotusque - Winged Sabertooth Tiger

Doublecross - Two Headed Dragon

Dogfight - Jet

Powerflash - Jet

Boss - Car

Other Lost Light Crew Members

Rodimus - Car (Flashback Window Only)

Megatron - Tank (Flashback Window Only)

Minimus Ambus - Minesweeper (Flashback Window Only)

Skids - Van (Flashback Window Only)

Nautica - Submarine (Flashback Window Only)

Brainstorm - Jet (Flashback Window Only)

Swerve - Van (Flashback Window Only)

Tailgate - Car (Flashback Window Only)

Velocity - Race Car (Flashback Window Only)

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Rung - Photon Crystal Generator (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Fulcrum - Bomb

Misfire - Jet

Spinister - Helicopter

Crankcase - Van

Krok

Nickel - Rocket Car

Deathsaurus - Dragon

Eaglebreast - Chest Piece

Tigerbreast - Chest Piece

Liokaiser - Breastforce Combiner

Previous Decepticon Justice Division (Mentioned) Dead

Starscream - Jet (Mentioned)

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned) Dead

Tarn - Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Genericons (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Star Saber - Jet

Froid - Jet

Red Scraplets

Cyclonus - Space Jet (Flashback Window Only)

Knights of Cybertron (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Other

Galactic Council Troops

Black Block Consortia Troops

The Scavengers' Saviour (Voice Only)

Notes

• Getaway claims at the start of the issue that the security team is unwilling to fire on other Autobots, yet at the end they slaughter the Protectobots. This either means that Getaway is wrong, or he has already made arrangements with Sunder to alter their minds further.
• It's off-handedly mentioned that travelling through the Warren causes the ship to travel backwards in time briefly...I'm gunna guess that that will be an important plot point later...
• Riptide managed to survive his swim with the Scraplets. From the looks of things he launched himself out of the oil which got him to safety, but how did he avoid getting eaten by them? He's obviously been bitten from his small wounds, but still! Eaten within 30 seconds remember?
• Getaway is shown looking into the past at Swerve's bar, as we also saw in MTMTE #50. We can probably assume that this happens at the same time as Getaway's last panel view into the past in that issue, since the window is only open for a short period of time.
• So turns out that Getaway DOES know about the Protectobots being able to combine into Defensor. I guess the Lost Light got a dossier about the events of Combiner Wars then?
• Getaway's logic that killing a Protectobot that turns into a leg or the torso of Defensor to disable the combiner is technically sound, except the Protectobots he names as legs haven't been shown as legs in IDW so far. Also since Mirage is also able to turn into a limb for Optimus Maximus, he could have stood in. The only real option for this logically would be to kill Hot Spot, being the only one who turns into a torso in the group.
• Also speaking about this scene, where is Mirage in the medibay? We see an empty slab, so was he just invisible whilst in a coma? Was he just offscreen and they left an empty bed for some reason?
• Shockingly we actually see the conflict on the planet Frayus that Getaway ignored the SOS to last issue. Though maybe it was a good thing that he had them ignore the call since the DJD turned up to join in on the fight too.
• It's revealed that Deathsaurus was the one who sent Fulcrum to prison in the first place. Seems he's changed his thoughts on aiding "criminals" over the past few years.
• Hey look! Nickel has an alternate mode! It's a cute rocket powered car of some sort!! Awww
• It's unclear who recued the Scavengers, but my guess would be either Scorponok, Fortress Maximus, Prowl, or someone on Necroworld.
• Oh wow...Liokaiser....where do I start here? We saw that MOST of the Breastforce were in Deathsaurus' troops when we last saw them at the end of MTMTE, but this appearance is confusing for a couple of reasons. First, how are they combining? Successful multi-bot combinations were unstable before Devastator, and later the Enigma of Combination, so unless Deathsaurus somehow "borrowed" the Enigma to combine them, then this should be an unstable combiner. Secondly, Guyhawk is seen as part of the combination...Guyhawk was a member of Gigatron's forces in Drift: Empire of Stone...a series where he died on-screen....maybe this is his cousin Galhawk?
• First Aid claims to have not gotten to know Rook....HE WAS PART OF YOUR COMBINER TEAM!!!! It's been established since combiners became commonplace in IDW that once you combine, you get a fragment of the other members of your team's mind inside yours forever, as clearly shown with the Constructicons and even Optimus starting to act more Prowl-like in his mannerisms.
• So Riptide was immune to the Nudge Gun because he is dumb? I personally prefer my theory that the gun just malfunctioned on him due to Getaway forgetting to recharge it now...
• Oh...Ambulon is back in his robot mode? Wasn't he reconfigured into a gun on Luna-1? I guess he got put back together since then? Also he can still be used for combination. Last time we saw a dead Transformer used as part of a combination was when Scrapper's corpse was used for Devastator's leg...which wasn't able to move properly...yet Defensor is fine here....yup...
• Ohh! Star Saber! YAY!!!
• He kills Mirage and easily defeats Defensor? Booo....
• Getaway alludes to how Star Saber agrees to join the crew as a means to get revenge on Cyclonus, who managed to defeat him last time they met.
• As predicted, Atomizer turns against Getaway at the climax of this issue, allowing First Aid, Thunderclash and Riptide to escape....then he gets murdered by Getaway...I wasn't expecting that part!
• Okay conspiracy theory time! I think most of the end of this issue is a false looped memory of Getaway's. I think Froid is fed up with him, when he learns that Rung is probably amongst the dead on Necroworld now, and he had Sunder trap him either just before or just after Rook's death, and gave him all he ever wanted to keep him placid (finding Cyberutopia, getting a powerful ally like Star Saber, defeating Defensor and the others etc).
• Hey, notice how annoyed Getaway looks when Skids calls Nautica his best friend in the flashback window? I wonder if Getaway will justify his old friend's death because of this moment?

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #21

Title: Remain in Light Part 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Josh Burcham with Joana Lafuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: John Barber

Plot

Tyrest is about to step through the portal to Cyberutopia, when Tailgate, who cannot hear the signal from Tyrests weapon jumps on his head and jabs his finger in the hole in his forehead, incapacitating him, Tailgate then turns off the signal, allowing the others to move again. Tyrest gets ready to kill Tailgate, but Rodimus points one of the claimed Legislator weapons to threaten him, and Tailgate pleads with him to just do it, as he's going to die from Cybercrosis within 2 days anyway. However the situation is put out of Rodimus' hands when Tyrest is shot in the back by an even smaller Minimus Ambus!

Outside, at the Smelting Pool the Circle of Light and Whirl fight off the Legislators, whilst Cyclonus goes on to challenge Star Saber, after a short battle, Cyclonus jabs Star Saber in one eye with his horn and prepares to kill him, but Star Saber teleports away at the las moment

Inside the Control Room again, Rodimus is shocked by Ambus's new appearance, and he reveals that THIS is actually his true form, and that he just had 2 body suits. Perceptor and the others get to work to try and reverse the effects of the Kill Switch, when Pharma escapes from his cuffs and heads to the portal. Skids, Rung and First Aid go after him, but Pharma reveals he can't go through anyway, as there's a forcefield, which Rung realises is similar to Aequitas technology, and only one without guilt, and flly at peace can pass through, which only Skids in the group matches, so he heads on through. After Skids has gone, Pharma taunts First Aids, and laughs about killing Ambulon, prompting First Aid to simply blast off his head. Rung consoles his distraught friend.

Rodimus is hooked up to the Kill Switch by Perceptor, who plans to use his Matrix half to reset the sparkcode in all the Cold Constructed Transformers, allowing them to be saved, but in the process it may kill Rodimus, and will certainly destroy the Matrix half. Before he potentially dies he wants to talk to Ambus though. Nearby, Swerve hears Tyrest talking, as he states "One, One". This causes all the Legislators to stop their attack outside, and rush to his aid.

Ambus reveals to Rodimus that he DID lure the Lost Light to Luna-1, but having Tyrest remotely access the armour to return it to him, rather than teleporting, so that they would follow, and Tyrest would knock some sense into Rodimus for his poor leadership style, this was of course before he knew Tyrest had gone coo-coo-bananas. Rodimus in turn reveals that he was involved in Overlord being on the ship, as Prowl basiclaly goaded him into doing it, b ut he promises that if he survives the Kill Switch reset, then he'll make amends. Perceptor activates the switch.

Skids, on the other side of the portal arrives on a strange world with several nearby metallic plants floating around, he is greeted by a giant multi-coloured spark who speaks to him in a strange language he doesn't understand.

The Kill Switch works, and all the Cold Constructed are returned to normal, all across the universe, however, the Matrix half is destroyed in the process. Before long, the Legislators have marched into the room, and start attacking the Autobots. Outside, Cyclonus and Whirl meet on top of the Smelting pool, with Whirl glad about their victory, he asks Cyclonus if they're cool, to which Cyclonus imagines himself pushing Whirl into the pool, killing him, but instead just leaves, agreeing to end their fued.

Skids rushes back through the portal after hearing Rung call for help, and Pharma's headless body is grabbed by some tendrils and pulled through the portal. During the battle, Tailgate learns about Tyrest's computer and how the Legislators are linked to it, so he modified the last accord, which repeals the entire thing, making the Legislators stop in their tracks, however Tailgate collapses from his illness

The next day, Cyclonus is with Chromedome in a medibay with Tailgate, who knows that his death is near now, he tells Cyclonus that he has a gift for him in their hab-suite and how he was only born a couple of weeks before the Ark-1 launch, and he's just wanted to do something with his life, he begs Cyclonus to kill him, but he refuses. Ratchet contacts Cyclonus to tell him they've found the cure in Pharma's medibays with Swerve's help, but it's too late to apply it, as Tailgate's spark is too weak. Cyclonus goes off in a strop, but is stopped by Whirl...a short time later, he arrives at Tailgate's deathbed again, with his great sword, and skewers him with it.

The Lost Light leaves soon afterwards, with Ambus back in the Ultra Magnus armour, and Rodimus beginning his plans to make amends, but is worried about his crew, since Ambulon and several others were killed, First Aid's gone quiet, and Brainstorm's locked himself in his workshop (unknown to others, with the Point One Percentor spark), and they wonder how Luna-1 was kept missing for so long, when Tyrest found it so easily, which is revealed to be, unknown to them as well, because the planet has a massive rocket on the back.

Later, Ultra Magnus visits Cyclonus in his hab suite, now sporting a new horn, thanks to Tailgate, and asks how Tailgate is doing, which Cyclonus replies that he needs to recover still from the treatment, revealing that he used the Great Sword to transplant some of his own spark into him, as he had excess energies, and that it was Whirl's idea. Magnus is impressed, and finally officially welcomes him aboard the ship.

The Sound of Breaking Glass

Earlier on, Rodimus and Ambus lead a mission on Luna-1 to try and recover what they can from the planet before they plan to leave. Brainstom finds his misplaced briefcase, but the space bridge itself is beyond fixing, they wonder about Pharma's missing body, but it's not that important right now. Meanwhile, Perceptor finds Tyrest's communications array, and starts work on repairing it.

At Swerve's bar on the Lost Light, Fort Max meets with Rung, and explains that he's been offered a new job, but it involves leaving the ship.

Rodimus returns to his office, and decides immediately to have Atomizer help him redecorate it appropriately, and remembers his last proper conversation with Drift, when he said he'll take the full consequences for Overlord being on the ship, as Rodimus is needed for the future.

Swerve returns to his bar, happy that he's helped Ratchet decipher the cure to Cybercrosis, when Brainstorm comes in, and asks him to keep an ear out for any chatter about his briefcase, which he's worried was opened during the problems on Luna-1, and that it'd be dangerous if that happened.

At the morgue, Ratchet finds Ambus trying to put the Magnus armour back on, and he reveals that he knows how it works, and helps him put it back on, and tells him that he's always thought of him at the TRUE Ultra Magnus, as he's done it the longest. After Magnus leaves, Ratchet goes on to his true job, and starts reviving Red Alert.

On Luna-1, Rodimus and Getaway are trying to make the hot spot ignite again, but with no luck, as the Matrix was clearly what made it ignite originally, though they do wonder why it has died out anyway, since hot spots tends to stay active after they activate. Soon, Fort Max and Red Alert join them, with Max glad to be taking over as the Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, and with Red Alert helping him on Luna-1, along with some of the Circle of Light, so they can keep up the job of enforcing the laws, which are still needed, and also protect the moon, and watch over Tyrest's unconscious body. Red Alert plans to reprogram the Legislators to guard Luna-1 as well.

Perceptor has the communications activated, and plans to make a copy for the ship, when they get in contact with Cybertron though, they're shocked to find Starscream responding.

Later, after the ship has gone, Outrigger, a member of the Circle runs and tells Red that Tyrest has moved, but when they get there, he's gone (having activated a recall button of his own, and teleported away)

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Minimus Ambus/Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport Middle body decapitated, back in main Armour

Skids - Van

Ratchet - Ambulance

First Aid - Ambulance

Chromedome - Car

Swerve - Van

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Rung - Maintenance Buggy

Brainstorm - Jet

Perceptor

Getaway

Prowl - Car

Pharma - Jet Decapitated by First Aid, Kidnapped by Tendrils

Fortress Maximus - Tank Stayed on Luna-1

Red Alert Revived, and Stayed on Luna-1

Grapple

Inferno

Drift - Car (Flashback) Self Exiled

Optimus Prime (Mentioned)

Ambulon (Mentioned) Dead

Bumblebee (Mentioned)

Duobots (Mentioned) Dead

Wheeljack (Mentioned)

Atomizer (Mentioned)

High Command on Cybertron (Mentioned)

Pipes - Truck (Mentioned) Dead

Rewind - Giant Memory Stick (Mentioned) Dead

Lancet (Mentioned) Maybe Dead

Lockstock (Mentioned) Maybe Dead

Suture (Mentioned) Died as Ultra Magnus

Datum (Mentioned) Died as Ultra Magnus

Ramp (Mentioned) Died as Ultra Magnus

Blockus (Mentioned) Died as Ultra Magnus

Original Ultra Magnus (Mentioned) Dead

Decepticon

Kaon

Krok

Spinister

Overlord (Mentioned)

Lockdown (Mentioned)

Circle of Light

Dai Atlas (Mentioned) Killed by Star Saber

Outrigger Stays on Luna-1

Other Members Several killed in battle, some stayed on Luna-1

Other

Cyclonus - Jet

Tailgate - Car Cured from Cybercrosis

Chief Justice Tyrest Badly injured by Minimus Ambus, Gone missing

Star Saber Eye stabbed by Cyclonus, teleported away

Starscream - Jet

Legislators Disabled by Tailgate

Strange Giant Spark

Tendrils

The Pet

Brainstorm's Point One Percenter Spark

Nominus Prime (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Sparkeater (Mentioned)

Galactic Council (Mentioned)

Thunder-Something (Mentioned)

Vector Sigma (Mentioned)

NAIL's (Mentioned)

Knights of Cybertron (Mentioned)

Notes

• This comic featured a small prose story afterwards, which I have included the brief synopsis for here as well
• I'm pretty sure I predicted that there would be a smaller Minimus inside the larger one at some point as well...
• From the looks of him when he's teleporting, it looks like Cyclonus may have sliced off Star Saber's arm
• Brainstorm is revealed here to be Cold Constructed.
• Rung seems to feel guilty or something, judging by how he can't enter the portal...wonder if that'll be brought up later...
• First Aid killing Pharma the way he does is pretty much exactly what he planned to do last issue, but Ratchet told him not to.
• Oddly, Tyrest accidentally saved Whirl's life, as he called for his Legislators to come to his aide just as one was about to kill him!
• Rodimus reveals that he was in on the Overlord conspiracy from the start, this is sort of hinted at back when Drift comments about Red Alert is snooping around, as Drift mentions to him that he's worried he'll find something he shouldn't.
• The giant spark's speech is made of just images. It's unclear what they mean, but from them, you could see it as meaning "Skids, what, Autobots, Decepticons, (or Cybertronian), The Lost Light, Not the Lost Light, Luna-1" which could be translated as "Skids? Did you come from a Cybertronian ship?", "Not a ship...Luna-1!"
• I really, really do think the alien world Skids went to has something to do with Quintessons, and the tendrils taking away Pharma's body sort of adds to that too!
• Tailgate finally learns the importance of a semi-colon, when it saves the day against the Legislators.
• Tailgate is revealed here to have only been 2 weeks old when he was trapped underground, which reveals why his holo-avatar looked like a baby.
• Tailgate also finally had his arm's writing redone to it's proper state "Waste Disposal"
• Brainstorm has kept the Point One Percenter spark, which seemed to be kept in his chest during the mission on Luna-1
• Cyclonus' connection to the Great Sword (which he's now wearing like Drift did) is explained as being because of his rebirth at Vector Sigma, as it gave him a more powerful and "newer" spark.
• The Space Bridge to "Cyberutopia" was destroyed during the battle with the Legislators.
• Fort Max, Red Alert (who's been revived) and several of the Circle of Light have stayed behind on Luna-1 to maintain it, and to watch over the injured Tyrest (who goes missing)
• Drift's exile is revealed to have been his idea, as a vision he had during the Chaos event showed him that Rodimus was vital to the future.
• Brainstorm thinks someone looked into the briefcase, which he asks Swerve to look into. hey, remember a few issues ago when Swerve said he'll look in that briefcase even if he dies trying?
• Ratchet is revealed to have known about the Magnus Armour since it was created
• The Lost Light now has possession of cures to various fatal illnesses to Cybertronians, thanks to Pharma's Medi-Bay.
• The hot spot on Luna-1 has died out, and Rodimus sprinkles the remains of the Matrix half on it out of respect.
• Rodimus plans to have a memorial to all those who have died under his watch set up in his office now.
• Ambus mentions Rodimus having an incident with someone starting with "Thunder-", since the next issue's solicit shows that Thunderclash is set to appear somehow, it could be him (then again, it could be Thundercracker, finally having left Earth for all we know, or Thunderwing, Thunderblast etc)
• The Lost Light finally make contact with Cybertron, but it's Starscream who answers the call, as he's now leader of the Cybertronians.
• Perceptor plans to create a copy of Tyrest's communications array for the Lost Light.
• It's mentioned here that some of the Circle of Light stay on Luna-1 to help out, that could mean that some went away with the Lost Light.

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #20

Title: Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely

Written by: James Roberts

Pencils by: Alex Milne

Inks by: Brian Shearer with Alex Milne

Colours by: Josh Burcham with John-Paul Bove

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editorial Assistant: Kevin Smead

Editor: John Barber

Plot

In the Medibay of Luna-1 Ratchet is working hard on fixing Ambulon from his injury, whilst First Aid is panicking, elsewhere Dai Atlas, Whirl, Cyclonus and the Circle of Light are fighting the army of Legislators, and Atlas is impressed with Cyclonus' skills with a Great Sword, despite being a novice.

In the Cell, Getaway reunites with Skids and tries to get him to remember his past and their friendship, Getaway reveals that Tyrest plans to kill all the Cold Constructed Transformers with his Killswitch, and the Autobots decide they need to stop him, but Getaway also claims that Ultra Magnus led the crew to Luna-1 on Tyrest's behalf for some reason.

In the Control Room, Pharma is looking over the Killswitch whilst Tyrest is drilling again,a nd he comments on how the only reason he's alive is because Tyrest needed to test the Killswitch wouldn't kill Forged Transformers, like Pharma, and also reveals that he captured the Circle of Light to test the effects on them as well. Star Saber interrupts the memories by telling Tyrest about the battle outsie the cells, Tyrest allows him to join the fight, with all resources he needs.

In the Cell again, Getaway reveals to the group, and Skids that they work for the Black Ops Diplomatic Corps and were on a mission to attack Tyrest with the Nudge Gun to make him decide to resign his position, due to him becoming more irrational lately (hunting Titans, having Decepticon helpers etc). However, when Skids takes the shot, because Tyrest had already messed up his brain with the drilling, it didn't work, but Tyrest felt the attack, and set his Legislators against the two Autobots, Getaway was captured, but Skids escaped in a ship made of three of the Legislators,a nd goes through a portal thanks to his Homing Device sending him to his nearest handlers (the Duobots), he writes the message on the wall to himself, and uses the gun on himself, wiping out his memories of the mission, as per his orders, and all things related to the mission are wiped out as well, excpet for Getaway, who was left as a remnant, which is why he doesn't forget him at all now. Rodimus figures out that Getaway and Skids' boss was Prowl, and Tailgate asks Getaway if he knows how to escape, which he does now, that he has a "fresh set of keys"

In the Medibay First Aid is angry with Ratchet for not letting him help fix Ambulon, and starts shouting at him, however Ratchet reveals that his refusal is nothing to do with First Aid's skills, it's because Ambulon died when the chainsaw severed his Spark before, and he's been turning his corpse into a cannon since then, he then blasts the Legislator guarding them and steals his gun for First Aid to use. The two medics escape and find the others from the cell having escaped as well thanks to Getaway creating a dart gun, and disabling the bars briefly, allowing some to leave.

Tailgate worries that his illness is getting worst and tells Ratchet that Magnus was healed up because of the medics here, so maybe he can be too, Ratchet isn't sure though, but says that Pharma may have the cure.

The Legislators are being torn apart when Cyclonus says he needs to leave to be somewhere, but Dai Atlas sees Star Saber appearing through a teleporter in the distance and goes to attack him for revenge, as Star Saber was the one who let down the Crystal City's defenses, allowing the Legislators into the city in the first place, after a short fight, Star Saber skewers Dai Atlas with his sword, apparently killing him, whilst also telling him that Primus hates him.

Rodimus and his team break into the control room and find Ambus' body on the floor, Pharma shoots Brainstorm and blasts the briefcase out of his hands. Rodimus approaches Tyrest to stop him, but the Chief Justice pushes a button on his staff, causing all the other Transformers to think they cannot move (thanks to the Weapon of Mass Suggestion). Tyrest then approaches the Killswitch unopposed and turns it on, suddenly all the Cold Constructed Transformer sin the group (including Getaway and Chromedome) start dying. The effect is sent out across subspace and starts affecting Transformers on the Lost Light, Peaceful Tyranny, Skyroller, Cybertron and beyond, beginning to kill several of them, whilst they're just going about their regular business

On Constancy Fulcrum has just freed Misfire from jail when the W.A.P. is nowhere to be seen as all the crew, except Grimlock are currently dying.

Back on Luna-1, Rodimus promises revenge on Tyrest, even if he has to destroy Cyberutopia to do so, on schedule, the portal, which Tyrest believes to go to Cyberutopia opens up and he steps through, believing himself to have finally been redeemed for his mistake in creating the Cold Construction process...

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Skids - Van

Getaway Affected by Killswitch

Pharma - Jet

Ratchet - Ambulance

First Aid - Ambulance

Ambulon - Leg Killed by Pharma, recycled as a Cannon

Chromedome - Car Affected by Killswitch

Rung - Maintenace Buggy

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Perceptor

Swerve - Van

Brainstorm - Jet Shot by Pharma

Minimus Ambus Decapitated 

Fortress Maximus - Tank

Blaster Affected by Killswitch

Mainframe Affected by Killswitch

Red Alert Affected by Killswitch (Whilst in his coma)

Hardhead - Personnel Carrier Affected by Killswitch

Orion Pax - Truck

Prowl - Car Affected by Killswitch

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Ultra Magnus Armour Inactive

Duobots (Mentioned)

Wreckers (Mentioned)

Diplomatic Corps (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Soundwave - Van
Ravage - Cassette Affected by Killswitch
Blitzwing - Tank/Jet
Tarn - Tank
Kaon - Electric Chair Affected by Killswitch
Fulcrum - Bomb
Misfire - Jet
Crankcase Affected by Killswitch
Krok Affected by Killswitch
Spinister Affected by Killswitch

Other

Chief Justice Tyrest

Star Saber

Tailgate Dying from Cybercrosis

Cyclonus - Jet

Dai Atlas - Jet Stabbed through spark by Star Saber

Starscream - Jet Affected by Killswitch

Rattrap - Rat

Circle of Light

Legislators

Galactic Council Personnel

Metrotitans (Flashback) Dead

Captain K'Gard (Flashback)

Knights of Cybertron (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

The Guiding Hand (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue fills in a lot of holes in the story over the past 20 issues, it tells us who Skids is, where his gun came from, how Pharma survived at Delphi, how and why the Circle of Light were captured amongst other things.
• Getaway's escape method includes using Brainstorm's briefcase clasps and Chromedome's finger needles, which is also what Tailgate suggested before!
• The Titans have been collected all this time to use their internal Space Bridges to create one big one, to lead directly to Cyberutopia 
• It's not clear why Pharma leaves Ratchet and doesn't kill First Aid before he goes, Tyrest doesn't really seem to have called for him.
• The Circle of Light were captured because Tyrest planned to use them to test the Killswitch (as he was sure that a city would have some of each type of construction)
• It's revealed here that the Diplomatic Corps are actually a Black Ops group, like the Wreckers, but more subtle, and that they seem to work in some way with the Galactic Council (and Prowl).
• Knowing that the Galactic Council have been after Magnus and Tyrest for a while, it seems likely that K'Gard's talk with Magnus in the Annual was more than likely an interrogation of sorts.
• Skids' Binary Gun is revealed to be a Nudge Gun in reality, and is designed to implant a false memory in it's target, the first bullet was meant to make Tyrest think about retiring, whilst the second one was blank, so it would wipe out Skids' own memories of the mission and everything around it, also explaining why he didn't remember the gun at any time, or Prowl during the Shadowplay story.
• Speaking about this, the use of the Nudge Gun was the 19(80)4 crime, but Tyrest even admits later that his staff's effect was based on that same principle, so shouldn't he be in violation too?
• Skids' Homing Device sent him ot his nearest handlers (the Duobots on the Lost Light) which explains why he just coincidentally appeared right near the ship back in issue 2
• Apparently it takes Ratchet about half and hour to convert a corpse into a massive cannon!
• Dai Atlas finally reveals his alternate mode as a jet!
• Cyclonus is still concerned with finding something on Luna-1
• Star Saber seems to be fully delusional, and claims that everyone is a heretic, even someone as devout as Dai Atlas!
• Yeah, I'm pretty sure Brainstorm's briefcase will be opened next issue, it's clasps are removed, and it's finally be shot off it's chain from his hand.
• Tyrest is sending the Killswitch's effect across the universe using the Subspace Network, explaining how it's affect those on Cybertron and other places too.
• The events shown on Gorlam Prime and Cybertron are set during the recent Robots in Disguise prequels to the Dark Cybertron storyline, whilst the Peaceful Tyranny and Constancy scenes are just used to show us what's happening with some of our other favourite characters from MTMTE last year.
• Ratchet mentioning that the cure to Cybercrosis possibly being inside Pharma's head could be a hint that Chromedome will inject him some time to find it for Tailgate
• Tarn seems to be worried about Kaon...wonder if he'll "sing" him out of his pain?